Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Invests 156.9 Billion KRW in Arts Support... 45% of 3rd Supplementary Budget

Oh Young-woo, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, held a meeting with reporters at a restaurant in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 8th, explaining the expansion of support in the second half of the year to normalize the arts ecosystem overcoming COVID-19.
[Photo by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 8th that it will provide an additional 156.9 billion KRW in the third supplementary budget to support the livelihoods, job creation, and consumption promotion in the arts sector, which has been struggling due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This amount corresponds to 45% of the Ministry’s third supplementary budget of 346.9 billion KRW. The Ministry added that among this, job support will cover both on-site personnel and those responding to non-face-to-face environments to establish a stable foundation for creative activities and provide new opportunities for artistic endeavors.

232 Billion KRW for Artists’ Creative Preparation Fund, Supporting a Total of 7,725 People
31.9 Billion KRW for Performing Arts Jobs, Supporting Over 3,500 Positions

The representative project for livelihood support, the 'Artists’ Creative Preparation Fund,' will provide 23.2 billion KRW in total, supporting 7,725 people, including an additional 9.9 billion KRW secured for the second half of the year in consideration of the high demand, with over 14,000 applicants in the first half. Applications will be accepted from the 13th to the 31st via the Creative Preparation Fund website (www.kawfartist.net), and payments are planned to be made in September after screening.

For the performing arts sector, which has been severely affected by COVID-19, about 3,500 jobs for on-site personnel such as creators, performers, planners, administrators, stage technicians, and venue disinfection staff will be supported with 31.9 billion KRW. Jobs needed on-site will be supported across various performance fields including theater, musicals, classical music, gugak (traditional Korean music), and dance. Measures to enhance fairness and transparency in budget execution, such as integrated guidelines for selection and project management, will also be established.

The 'Public Art Project' will receive the largest allocation of 75.9 billion KRW. This is a matching project with 228 local governments (226 basic local governments and 2 special autonomous cities/provinces), with local governments subsidizing 20% of the budget. It is planned to enable about 8,500 young artists to participate. Various types of artistic work will be flexibly operated according to regional conditions, including art installation, cultural space creation, urban regeneration, media and online exhibitions, and community programs involving resident participation, all based on communication and engagement with local residents.

Response to Non-Face-to-Face and Online Environments
Normalization of the Ecosystem through Consumption Promotion

Projects responding to the expanded non-face-to-face environment due to COVID-19 will also be promoted. 14.9 billion KRW is allocated to support online media art activities to help artists enter online and media platforms, benefiting 2,720 artists. 3.3 billion KRW (310 people) will be invested in collecting and digitizing artistic materials such as performance scripts and art catalogs, and 1.4 billion KRW (90 people) will be used for digitizing artifacts held by regional literary museums. To prepare for the expansion of online cultural and arts education, 11.5 billion KRW (2,000 people) will be supported for the 'Cultural and Arts Education Resource Survey.'

Additionally, art consumption will be promoted through support for performance admission fees (15.9 billion KRW, 1.8 million tickets) and exhibition admission fees (5.2 billion KRW, 1.6 million tickets). The implementation timing will be adjusted according to the COVID-19 situation, and thorough quarantine measures will be enforced during the promotion. Exhibition tickets, which have a high proportion of on-site purchases, will be made available for use both at online booking sites and on-site.

Earlier in the first half of the year, the Ministry supported special COVID-19 loans for artists (7.1 billion KRW, 1,090 people), the Artists’ Creative Preparation Fund (22.6 billion KRW, 7,535 people), and advance payments for art instructor fees (4.1 billion KRW, 3,260 cases). Support for venue rental fees, performance production costs, and specialized theater operations is also underway.

Oh Young-woo, the first vice minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, "We will further expand support for the recovery of damages suffered by artists and arts organizations and promote supplementary policies to enhance the sustainability of the arts ecosystem. We will ensure that systems for artists in difficult situations are delivered within this year in line with the purpose of the third supplementary budget projects."